FLAG OF MONTENEGRO

The flag of Montenegro was officially adopted on 13 July 2004 at the proposal of the government of Montenegro. It was constitutionally sanctioned with the proclamation of the Constitution on 22 October 2007. It is a red banner with broader golden edges all around the red field with the coat of arms of Montenegro in its centre.

The ratio of the flag is 1:2. The coat of arms takes up  2⁄3 of the flag's height. The middle point of the coat of arms matches the middle point of the flag. The width of the border is  1⁄20 of the flag's proportions. Two versions of the Montenegrin flag are in use, horizontal, mostly used outdoor; and vertical, mostly used indoor.

The historical war flags were the krstaš-barjak, plain flags with crosses in the centre.

The Montenegrin war flag used in the Battle of Vučji Do (1876) was red with a white cross pattée in the centre and a white border, and this flag was adopted from the Serbian war flag in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) which found itself in Montenegro after surviving knights brought it there. The same flag was used in Cetinje in 1878, upon recognition of independence by the Ottoman Empire at San Stefano.

According to the 1905 constitution, the national flag was a tricolour of red-bluish-white, which were the colours of Montenegrin folk costume.

Flags as the state symbols were introduced only in the time of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. Before him, the principal Montenegrin flag had been the alaj-barjak (regimental colours) with a single symbol on it - the cross (krst). The first written description of a Montenegrin flag dates from the time of Šćepan Mali: it was white, with a red frame and a golden cross on top of the spear. The next comes from 1838: pale-yellow with the small red cross, and in 1876 the flag was described as red with a white cross. At the time of Prince Danilo, the cross on the alaj-barjak was replaced by the two-headed eagle with the initials DI (Danilo I) on its breast, with the lion passant underneath. Prince/King Nikola used many different flags in his time. The first of the variants was the same as Danilo's, differing only in the initials - NI (Nikola I). Around 1910, two new variants appeared: one tricolor (red, blue and white) with the two-headed eagle bearing the initials NI on its breast and the lion passant on the sinister, the other with the two-headed eagle above the initials NI.

In late 1946 a new flag of the People's Republic of Montenegro, a constituent republic of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted. It returned the traditional tricolor adding an ideological communist Red Star to its center.

This flag was used until 1992, when the proclaimed flag was red, bluish and white vertical tricolor, with the size ratio of 1:3.

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ABOUT MONTENEGRO:

Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, and Albania to the south-east. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital.

In the 9th century, three Slavic principalities were in the territory of Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia, the north. By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, southern Montenegro (Zeta) came under the rule of the Balšić noble family, then the Crnojević noble family, and by the 15th century, Zeta was more often referred to as Crna Gora (Venetian: monte negro). Large portions fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1496 to 1878. Parts were controlled by Venice and the First French Empire and Austria-Hungary, its successors. From 1515 until 1851, the prince-bishops (vladikas) of Cetinje were the rulers. The House of Petrović-Njegoš ruled the country from 1697 to 1918.

From 1918, it was a part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was succeeded by SFR Yugoslavia in 1945, FR Yugoslavia in 1992, and subsequently by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of an independence referendum held on 21 May 2006, Montenegro declared independence on 3 June of that year.

CAPITAL OF MONTENEGRO:

Podgorica